Path to Emptiness
by Wing Knight
Summary: An alternative ending for the Darkness under the Light


Path to Emptiness

By: Wing Knight

Note: Sequel to Darkness under the Light.

Warning: One of the two different finishes to the Darkness under the Light.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gundam Wing~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

- 1 Months

The elevator stopped and Heero stepped out. He looked around to find the entrance to the emergency room.

' Where is it?'

He turned to the nurse near by.

" Excuse me, where is the emergency room?"

The nurse smiled and pointed to the right.

" It's around the corner."

Heero ran to the room, only to find it locked.

" Damn!"

He found a seat and rested his tired body. His fatigue soon overwhelmed him and the eyes closed. He was about to fall asleep when the door to the emergency room opened. He saw a doctor standing in front of him.

" Excuse me, but are you the victim's husband?"

Heero stood up and looked into the eyes.

" Yes. Is she?"  
The doctor lowered his head.

" I'm terribly sorry."  
Heero ran into the room and saw the white sheet covering a body.

' It can't be.... It can't be. I must be in wrong room.'

He walked beside the surgery table and lifted the sheet. The familiar face rested peacefully underneath. The doctor followed him in.

" I'm terribly sorry. The bullet punctured the lung and she...basically drowned in her own blood...."

Heero leaned beside the corpse, and took her hand and rubbed it against his cheek. He felt the cold hand and also dews trailing the boundary between himself and his love.

' What am I going to do now? My life has been surrounded by missions. With you leaving me like this, what will I do?'

Heero heard the door close behind him and let out his emotions that he hid in presence of others. The doctor heard the agonizing cries and sobbing echo into his ears.

' Tsk, tsk, tsk.'

****

- 20 Days

The sky was dark with cloud that loomed over the sky of Paris. Not a single trace of light seemed through the layers and layers of clouds to give a hope of preventing the rain from falling. Underneath the sky, located in a cemetery, crowds gathered around as another human being was returning to its origin to start anew.

" We are gathered here today, to celebrate the life of Lucrezia Noin Yuy. A woman who devoted herself to the ideal of Pacifism even when it was nearing its destruction..."

The drops began to fall on the crowd and few of them quickly closed the casket. The sermon ended and four men lowered the casket down to the earth that gave birth to all living beings living inside it. Heero began to cover the casket with the dirt; still clinging to the thought that she might open the casket cover and crawl out of the ditch. The grave was slowly filled with dirt and the crowds dispersed. Only ten people stayed on through the heavy rain. Heero stood in front of the grave and placed the engagement ring above the tombstone. He kissed the ring and turned around.

" Um...Heero. We've said it before but...we're sorry...."

The quietness engulfed them and they walked to their transports. Heero walked into his car with the others. The silence still loomed over. With the careful words of good byes, the others left the field of grief. Heero entered his car and closed the door. He hugged the steering wheel and began to cry.

" It's all my fault! IT'S ALL MY FAULT!! Only if I acted a little faster... You wouldn't...(sobbing)...You wouldn't have left me..."

Heero turned the keys to start the car. He still had lots of things to do. After leaving the cemetery, he headed for home. While on his way, he stepped into the liquor store. It was nice looking from the cleanness of the place.

" May I help you fella?"

Heero sat in front of the bartender.

" Give me the strongest you got."

The bartender's face became serious as he picked up a cup. Heero interrupted.

" Give me a bottle...in fact, give me three. I'll just take it home."

" S...sure..."

The bartender gave him two bottles of vodkas and a bottle of whiskey.

" That'll be 30 Pacis."

Heero handed him the cash and left the place. As he entered the car, he pulled the whiskey out of the bag and placed it beside him. He once again turned the key, now going to the place he intended to go. At the first stop, he opened the bottle and took a long gulp down his throat. It burned but it was no way near the pain he was in at the moment. By the time he arrived at home, he finished the whiskey. He grabbed a bottle of vodka and threw the whiskey bottle away. He entered his house and slowly dragged himself to the sofa. He dropped to the sofa and turned on the TV and pressed the remote. The video disk that was inside played. The image of himself along with Noin appeared. It was after the marriage ceremony. He was talking into Noin's ear, about what they would do as soon as it ended. That he would take her in the way he took her home when she was drunk. Noin giggled and started to act like she was drunk. He also chuckled and lifted her up in his arms, swinging her through the air. In the background, he could hear Wufei ranting about Heero and Noin. He thought of it as unjustifiable for a man to act like he was doing.

Heero felt something flow down his face once again. It was becoming harder to control his tears. He now realized that he wasn't the same person as he was six years ago. He was more compassionate, and somehow became more human. Although he yearned to be so, it was painful. The emotion overflowed inside him and it was consuming him. By the time he came back to reality, the videodisk was over. He turned off the TV and slowly walked to the bedroom. Once he stepped in, he was reminded again of the loss. The clothes that were hung on the closet and the basic make ups in front of the mirror shot another arrow that pierced his heart. He quickly finished off the drink and got on to the bed. The alcohol took better of him and the eyes closed, taking him to the dream.

****

- 7 Days

There was huge stack of paperwork on his desk, as Heero resumed another day of agony. After being appointed as the Chief of the Covert Operations Team, he has done nothing. He didn't care about the overflowing paper works and the ministers visiting him for any reports. Other pilots often came in to comfort him, but it never helped. Behind the closed the doors, he just stared at the pictures. Pictures of the memories. The team members routinely talk about their new chief. Today wasn't the exception.

" Hey, what's with the chief? I never saw him get any paper works done."

" I hear he lost his wife about a month ago."

The female staffs shook their heads.

" It's so sad...."

Their boss, Quatre, interrupted them.

" What are you talking about?"

The staffs pretended to eat their lunch.

" Nothing, sir."

Quatre sat on their table. He knew what they were talking about.

" It is sad. The chief became more humane after their marriage. He is blaming himself for her death..."

The others focused their eyes on their boss.

" ...If it goes on like this, I think he would commit suicide...."

Duo joined in the conversation as he took a seat next to Quatre.

" Yeah... He's gloomier than ever before... He doesn't even look alive...."

The staffs saluted.

" Major."

Duo waved his hand up and down.

" You don't need to do that in front of me."

Duo looked around and saw Heero's secretary. He signaled her to join. She nodded and sat behind the table, next to other staffs.

" So, what is the chief doing now?"

The secretary's face became dark.

" He's drinking again..."

" What do you mean, drinking? Where did he get the alcohol?"

The secretary began to sniffle. It was painful to watch another person being wasted away.

" He always brings two bottles from home. I just can't bear it now. I'm...going to quit."

Duo shook his head.

" No. You need to keep informing us. You can help him. Please, Sereh."

Suddenly, there was mumblings through out the cafeteria. It was Heero, holding up a box and a large bag. Duo went up to his friend.

" Hey, what are you doing here? Come join."

Heero shook his head.

" No. I just came here to meet everyone. Where's Trowa?"

" He's having a date with Relena."

" Oh." said Heero with no emotion what so ever.

" So, what's on your mind? Why do you have all these things?"

Heero placed the box on the table and turned to his friend.

" I've quitted. Effective after 1300 hours, Trowa is the chief."

" Heero..."

Heero gave a cold stare.

" And don't follow me, or try to visit me. I need to refresh myself."

Duo sighed.

" Well, good luck."

Duo raised his hand and Heero hesitated for a moment, then grabbed it and shook.

" See you later, Duo."

Heero turned around and picked up the box. He walked toward the elevator but stopped in the middle.

" Oh, I forgot!"

He got the key card and the bundles of other keys out of his pocket.

" Duo!"

The keys flew in the air and landed on Duo's hands. After confirming that the keys are in Duo's hands, Heero continued his way to the elevator. After the door opened, He stepped inside and did not look back. He didn't want to become weak minded.

****

00:00:00

Heero spent the last six days cleaning up the house. He stacked the Noin's belongings in his car and drove to the nearest lake. At the sand field, he stacked the belongings and sprayed oil over them. He sat near and gazed at the setting sun. The sky was red and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. He grabbed his last bottle of vodka and took a gulp. The tears flowed again.

' Why? Am I cursed? Am I cursed for my sins? Why is it that I lose everything that I value?'

He took another gulp down his throat. The sun went over the horizon and the stars shined. Heero took out a match and lit it. He gazed at the flame as it shook from the wind. He threw it on the oil soaked materials and the flame grew. It grew and engulfed the things that reminded him of the happiest moment in his life. As it was burning, he immediately grabbed his drink and finished it off. He threw the empty bottle into the flame and sat down in front of the fire. He reached his right hand behind his waist and grabbed his pistol. He ejected the magazine and reached in his pockets. He got out a single .357 caliber hollow point bullet and a last picture of his marriage. He threw the picture into the flame and fed the magazine into the gun. He cocked the gun and pointed the muzzle against his right temple. The tears dropped and Heero's hand began to shake.

' What will happen if I die? Is this the only way that's left for me?'

He started to think about his life. From his training as an assassin and the two wars that he went through. It ached his mind. The haunting souls that he took away came into his vision and one person reached her hand toward him.

" Noin...."

Heero pulled the trigger and the bullet pierced through the skull, tearing the brain and killing him. The blood flowed down as the limp body fell down to the sand. Its open eyes staring at the partially burned picture of the happy couple.

****

6:50:42

Trowa was jogging around the lake like he did every weekend. When he was about halfway around the course, he saw the smoke and the smell of burned ashes stung his nose. He stopped and carefully approached the sand field. He saw a body lying on the sand with blood around it.

" What the hell?"

He rushed to the body and saw the .357 caliber desert eagle on the sand and the body of a familiar person.

" Huh?"

He walked around and saw the face. Trowa became shocked.

" H...Heero?"

He made sure that the scene wasn't disturbed and got his cell phone out. He dialed for the police and about ten minutes later; they arrived at the scene. People rushed around as the day began with the dark cloud pouring down the rain.

****

2 Days

The members of the Covert Operations Team gathered around the familiar spot in the cemetery. The last bit of soil was covered and the Gundam pilots watched the two graves. Both Noin and Heero now rested in the Earth, next to each other. The crowds began to disperse and the four remaining pilots stayed on their spots.

" Heero... You...you were and you are the most pure hearted person...and...."

Quatre picked up where Trowa left off.

" ...And we want you to rest in peace as we will try to keep the world as it is..."

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWGundam WingWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Gundam W characters are property of Sunrise & Sotsu. Other characters belong to me.

Whew! That's one down, one more to go. I know it's short compared to the prequels but this is suppose to be the last chapters of the fic. The other version will be titled, Joy of My Life.


End file.
